User blog:BJFRacing14/Low NASCAR TV ratings could hurt global satellite carriers
Former fans of this once-cherished, once-redneck sport voiced their displeasure for the constant rules changes, Toyota's dominance in the sport, and the doubtful future. A Charlotte Observer article can easily tell you what fans do not appreciate about NASCAR's sorry state of affails it's in right now. Low TV ratings for NASCAR coverage have been one of several contributing factors as well as low attendance at some events so far this year. Dover Downs in Dover, DE has seen its lowest in years. Sky high ticket prices had shunned lots of fans from going to events like ones in Daytona and Talladega. In February of this year, an endorsement for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was made by NASCAR CEO Brian France which angered a great number of Americans voicing disdain about him in regards to allegations of misconduct in several aspects. With Toyota garnering more wins than American brands Ford, GM and Chrysler-Fiat's Dodge division combined, NASCAR fans aren't happy about it saying they're more favored than Ford and Chevy drivers With all these factors in mind, I believe fans have had enough and are steadily dropping the sport, some dropping it for good. With that, it leads to my question for our international friends like ABS. These factors are very concerning. ABS airs the live FOX and NBC feeds of NASCAR races throughout its season throughout all of Japan and on its other territorial networks. But I'm afraid that these factors may play into whether ABS should continue broadcasting NASCAR racing in Japan. Low approval ratings from 2008 caused ABN Sports to drop NASCAR coverage altogether which then opened the doors for the network to focus on Intercontinental Motor Sports of America competition. When considering these factors, are you dropping coverage of NASCAR in your country or will you continue it? ---- Giving it at least a week or two to think about this topic, having kept these factors in mind, it's pretty well clear that NASCAR isn't hurting for money. I mean, c'mon. Let's get real. Sponsors dole huge amounts of money through contracts with drivers and teams all the time. At one time, the highest paid sponsor was STP. Now there are top dollar endorsements from Monster Energy, Tracker Boats, Bass Pro Shops, General Mills, and so much more, NASCAR is all peachy as plums with the money situation, however, I learned about one scenario from another source of which I will not name here (hint: fansite for NASCAR Racing 2003 Season). A user of this unnamed NR2003 fansite says that "if you don't watch, that means less eyes on the sponsors of the sport, which means they would think their money can be well spent elsewhere, which means, no $$$ for NASCAR, and it goes downhill from that, not including TV deals." Bull. Money is not the main factor as to why people are not happy with its current state. If it were such, NASCAR would never exist in the Brian France era. That means no dominant Jimmie Johnson, no beefs with Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards, no tirades from Kurt and Kyle Busch and so on. If it were so in the Bill France, Jr. era, boy it'd be a travesty of the highest caliper. If only people from this unnamed source could have understood why yours truly and three other unnamed users made a choice to move away from NASCAR, three other unnamed users wouldn't be so quick to judge us. Here are some quotes from all three of us discussing this topic of former fans having nothing to do with NASCAR's current state: *''I dropped off NASCAR back in 2010 and never followed it since. I mean, this sport is dying! People are beginning to steadily drift their attention from this to other sports personalities like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Russell Wilson, etc. This isn't looking too promising for this once-cherished sport. I used to enjoy it. I rejoiced when Dale Sr. won the 500 in 1998, three days before my birthday! Anytime people talked NASCAR on the radio in Missoula, there were peaks of interest which led to the National Guard and DeWalt show cars being sent to Missoula in separate years, both of which I saw. Sadly today, nobody in Griz Nation even cares about it. Tell anyone in MIssoula about it, they'd be like "Huh? What? Don't care" and just move on with watching crappy Thursday Night Football. - NR2003 fansite user #1'' *''I may be an avid fan of the sport since 2004 or so...but when the executives behind NASCAR slip up, they do so in a BIG level to the point of losing a considerable amount of their fanbase and I do not blame the fans that left for doing so. It's a good thing that we have alternatives to NASCAR (For example, IndyCar and Formula 1). - NR2003 fansite user #2'' *''I was done after 2015, but came back because my personal life fell apart again i need excuses for escapism. But as we come up on the end of 2016 I'm starting to feel the whole "why do i watch this again." The chase is a broken way to crown a champion, the drivers are unlikable with only a couple exceptions, the people running it are so disingenuous and downright scummy at points, the people reporting on the sport toe the company line, a large margin of the fanbase are absolute whiners or whine over stupid stuff. NASCAR is so disconnected for the motorsport world at large its ridiculous. - NR2003 fansite user #3'' One unnamed user's quote of "quit complaining about NASCAR if you don't watch it" turned me away from the topic not willing to come back and continue discussing this very issue. We weren't complaining about its current state. Is it wrong for us to speak out what we think is going on and what we think is happening in the future of NASCAR? Apparently to this so called "NASCAR lover" who has a Dodge fettish having affixed the "426" number at the end of its username, it is wrong to him and that pisses me off. This source basically is dictating how people can speak their minds about certain topics. If they see something they don't agree with, they'll automatically shoot it down without needing any form of precognitive forethought. If we see something that is of significance to us, let us speak out about it instead of controlling what messages we send out to the mass audience. This in return lessens any future comeback to this NR2003 fansite for me because the lot of them are narcissistic in their thought process. Back to the blog topic at hand, yes, ratings are low like the NFL's mainly because of this Clinton/Trump bullshit, but that's not the only factor. High ticket prices from scummy ticket distributors are shunting fans out right and left. You're better off going to the actual source if you're going to get tickets for a race in the near future. Get it from the track promotion itself, not some scummy third party ragtag ticket distribution site. If you plan to purchase them online through a third party, make sure its one the promotion is an affiliated partner with. Say, TicketMaster for example. Also, the price of carrier fees are a tad excessive. Some ragtag carriers charge way too much to stream a live race. And, too, not a lot of these carriers are universally available for all tablets, smartphones, smart TV's and computers. And not a lot of these carriers are H.264 friendly. That could be another reason why some fans from 2015 didn't watch or see in person some of the 2016 races. Most networks offer the alternative to watching it on television via their apps like FOX Sports GO, Watch ESPN, ABS Anywhere, and many others. However, some ragtag sports apps are also sucking a lot of the well established apps of its prominance in the Google Play, Apple and Windows Store sites. Stick with the networks' mobile apps. Most of them are free of charge as they pay the carriers like Ustream a cut of advertising revenue to air their programming online through their apps. The biggest nitty girtty of the low TV ratings is perhaps people's annoyance of NASCAR's constant changes. I kinda find it a bit ridiculous that this one thing is of many chief reasons why some turned to other motorsports. And yeah it does seem a bit disconjointed at the present time with the insanely ragtag aero package rules and the "win and get it" scheme in the Chase for the Sprint Cup postseason. But make no mistake about it, they are trying. Keyword: TRYING. Things take time and if these NR2003 fansite users would just take that into account, then none of them would be so quick to judge other peoples' opinions. Form your own conclusions about this whole deal. Don't rely solely on one person's word or another. One might say something you might agree to, another won't. Uh uh. Not me. I form my own conclusions to however I wish to do so. If it is agreed upon, fine. If not, screw it, I move on and never discuss it again. Let's hope NASCAR can make some actually good changes for once and not make ones that seem to annoy their fanbase and their TV carriers like NBC and FOX. Here's to hoping for the best for 2017. Category:Blog posts